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... re, was the English commander and he regarded Scotland as a whole nation not to be associated with in any way 25. The day before the battle he outlined his plan. Warenne ordered the English army across the Stirling bridge over the river Forth and onto a piece of land that was surrounded on three sides by water. Soldiers fighting for the English king would then conduct a full frontal assault on the Scots who held the high ground 26.
The Earl of Surrey was so confident of the superiority of his troops that he spent no real amount of time planning for the battle. On the morning of the battle the crossing was begun and reversed several times as Wallace pursued diplomatic options in an effort to stall for time in order to confirm intelligence and deployments. When the decision was finally made by the English commander to send his army over the river he had to send them over two at a time because the bridge was so narrow 27. The crossing took more than two hours and all the while Wallace and his Captains stood and watched the English move. Many of the English lords and even some of the Scottish nobles who had switched sides believed that the attitude of their leader was suicide.
Not wanting to discuss the issue anymore the English Commander, John Warenne, ordered his second in command to cross the bridge and proceed with the frontal attack. Wallace waited until a great number of the English troops had crossed the river. When there was as many troops from England as he thought his force could effectively handle, he gave the signal for the charge to begin 28. In such a closed in area, the English cavalry became ineffective because they had no room to maneuver or make efficient use of their weapons. English infantry was in much the same position mainly due to the fact that it took them a good bit of time to form up after the crossing. When Wallace sounded the attack, a small detachment of Scottish specimen gained control of one side of the bridge thus cutting off the only escape route other than swimming the river, which many tried but few succeeded.
The main Scottish army had charged straight down towards the English cutting off the only land route of escape. The English now had river on three sides, the only accessible bridge controlled by the Scottish, and the main force of the Scottish army bearing down on them. A majority of the English army was sealed off from reinforcements and eventually wiped out 29. Unlike the portrayal in the movie Braveheart, the Battle of Stirling Bridge was not a situation that both armies charged each other and the battle was decided in typical medieval fashion. It was instead a brilliant move on Wallace's part by manipulating the English into fighting the battle on his terms. The English on the other hand had to contend with the supreme arrogance of their leader and a prevailing thought that they would easily sweep the Scottish army from the field.
John Warenne paid for arrogance and tactical mistakes with the blood of many English soldiers. Braveheart was released in the year 1995 and since then the Scottish people have made great strides in becoming there own nation once again. While Scotland was never subdued by force of arms, it was never completely free of English rule and even today the English Parliament rules the country from London. The movie Braveheart while not entirely accurate in its portrayal of the Scottish wars for independence brought back to light the story of the great men who fought for their homes and families. Hollywood writers felt that the whole truth of the story wasnt acceptable as far as the current trends in film went. Braveheart had a great number of different plots going all at once.
There was of course all of the following themes: romance, militarism, and a return of the heroic character. Most films that are produced in Hollywood are for the most part appealing to men because the establishment is almost entirely men. Romance as a theme takes on a new meaning because it now fails to uphold the stereotype that so called romance can only exist between a man and a woman. Kellner and Ryan say that, male centered romance was revived during a period of reaction against political instability and potential war. 30 These two authors are saying that movie producers are saying that romance is so uncertain especially in the times in which we live that it is better to depend on a friend that is a male rather than worry about love and all its trappings. Braveheart is a great example of the way in which men bond as friends is some kind same sex romance. Robert the Bruce in the movie Braveheart says, to the troops during the final battle scene, you have bled with Wallace now bleed with me. 31 There can be no greater romance between two men than going to war together against a common enemy.
Conventional romance meaning that between a man and a woman is also a social statement. The women in Braveheart while few are very headstrong and ambitious. Princess Isabella willfully defies not only her husband but her father in law the king of England. Isabella basically commits what in that time would have been considered treason and helps William Wallace in his struggle. In addition to helping Wallace, she implies that she is pregnant with his child. The treason at least historically seems to have taken place and is an example of how the attitude towards ambitious women have changed.
As far as the adultery goes, she was in fact married and even hundreds of years later women were executed for simply being accused of adultery. Romance was the underlying theme of all of this in that it gave the story a powerful and emotional ending by applying present day feminist thoughts about sexuality and ambition to a 700 -year-old story. As for the militarism in Braveheart, the theme is quite obvious. Prior to the release date the American military had fought one of the most successful campaigns in military history in terms of achieving the set goals and minimizing casualties and regained some of its prestige that it had lost in Vietnam. Kellner and Ryan suggest that in post Vietnam era films such as An Officer and a Gentlemen Hollywood is attempting to restore the image of the American military in the eyes of the public. Braveheart does the same thing in a post Gulf War era in which the American military takes on a superior force in sheer numbers and practically destroys them.
The underlying militaristic theme of Braveheart is that of Americans or whichever side we are on is going to eventually win because America has the moral high ground in everything. Speaking of the moral high ground, the last and most important theme in Braveheart is that of the return of heroic characters. Again according to Kellner and Ryan, the idealized self-representations (on the level of both the individual and the nation) help hold a society together. 31 They go on to suggest that the current trend is for more great leaders in order to help us feel like we are regaining something that we have lost in the past. There are three independent elements in the heroic individual. Two of these are present in Braveheart. The first is an assertion that heroic characters are like entrepreneurs in that they stand up to state tyranny.
William Wallace could most certainly be thought of as an entrepreneur who stood up to state tyranny. The second element is that of the heroic warrior. The story of William Wallace and his struggle against the oppressive English king strikes a chord with patriotic Americans everywhere. The idea of all of these themes coming together at the right time and place and under the right circumstances and being the product of mostly historical fact produces a movie with impact that Braveheart had.
In conclusion, there have been many films since the beginning of film history that have been based on historical fact. Some of these have been completely accurate while some others have only been a loose interpretation of what actually happened. Mel Gibsons Braveheart is an example of movie that is in about the middle. Braveheart while mostly accurate as far as dates and places go there were several fictitious events and traits attributed to certain characters.
Also there were a couple of people who were deleted from the story who played a major role and there were those who were based on real people but those people played no part in the Scottish war for independence. Hollywood also fictionalized the actual battles in order to make them more dramatic and thereby improve the profitability of the movie. All the above changes were made to enhance the drama of the movie and to go along with the current trends in romance, militarism, and the return of the heroic character. Hollywood in the movie Braveheart manipulated the facts in a 700 -year-old story in order to increase their profits and make some kind of social statement and abide by the current social trends. 1. Braveheart (1995), Paramount Pictures, Mel Gibson, dir. 2. Peter Reese, Wallace: A Biography.
Canongate Books Ltd. , 1996. p. vi 5. Peter Reese, Wallace: A Biography.
Canongate Books Ltd. , 1996. p. 21 7. Braveheart (1995), Paramount Pictures, Mel Gibson, dir. 8. Peter Reese, Wallace: A Biography. Canongate Books Ltd. , 1996. p. 37 9.
John and Julia Key, Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. Harper Collins Publishers, 1994. p. 965 10. Unknown author, Sir William Wallace. web 11. Unknown author, Braveheart: the movie.
web 1995 12. Unknown author, Sir William Wallace. web 13. Peter Reese, Wallace: A Biography. Canongate Books Ltd. , 1996. p. 72 17.
Peter Reese, Wallace: A Biography. Canongate Books Ltd. , 1996. p. 121 18. Unknown author, Braveheart: the movie. web 1995 19. Unknown author, Braveheart: the movie.
web 1995 20. Unknown author, Braveheart: the movie. web 1995 21. Peter Reese, Wallace: A Biography. Canongate Books Ltd. , 1996. p. 36 30.
Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner, Camera Politica. Indiana University Press, 1988. p. 217 Societal Comments and Historical Inaccuracy in Braveheart Bibliography:
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